Trough type oil burner



Sew-16,1947 I i E. FRANCK 2,427,452-

TROUGH TYPE OIL. BURNER Filed March 2:5}1945 I "Emil Franck,

Patented Sept. 16, 1 1947 UNITED STAT PATEN T O-F Fl CE TROUGHTYPE OIL BURNER Emil Franck, Hachensack, N. J, Application March 23, 1945-, Serial-No; 584,415

5 Qlairns.

This invention relates to heaters forrailroad hopper cars of steel or other fire-resistant constructions. More particularly it pertains. to a portable type or heaterwhich may be used effectively by one man to thaw the ice fromv the, hopper of a loaded hopper car so that its load may bedischarged.

When coal, for example, isloaded into hopper cars it is usually wet, and in transit rain or thawing snowmay accumulate additional water in the bottoms of the hoppers. In cold weather such water freezes in the cars with the result that the coal remains solid in the railroad cars and will not flow out after hopper gates have been opened in the coal yards. This has long presented a problem of how to get the coal suinciently thawed that it may be discharged through the car hoppers.

There have been various constructions suggested for directingfiames against the exterior ofthe car hoppers, after-the fashion of a large blow torch, and there have been types of hopper cars suggested wherein a heating unit was included in association With each ear hopper. However, these expedientshave not been well received because of the fact that some of the.

constructions were unwieldy and awkward. to

use and because the coal yard operators were afraid to use others of them} The result has :been that most frozen hoppers have been thawed either bybuilding a fire on the tracks underneath the car thereby often damaging railroad ties or by the crude resort of placing a bucket of oil under the hopper and then igniting the oil.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable car heater which can be operated by one man and which will eifectively and rapidly thaw the ice from a frozen car hopper. A further object is the provision of a heater having a novel arrangement of ramp-like supporting structures such that one man can easily position the heater beneath the hopper of a car. A further object is the provision of a car heater which is simple and durable in construction and eiTectiv-e in operation and which will rapidly thaw a frozen car hopper. Other objects will be in part pointed out as the description proceeds and will in part become apparent therefrom.

In this specification and the accompanying drawings, I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention; but it is to be understood that this is not intended to be exhaustive nor limiting of the invention, but on the gontrary is given fer purposes of illustration in order that others skilled in theart may fully understand the invention and the principles thereof and the manner of applying it in practi'cal use so that they may modify and adapt it in various forms, each as may. be best suited to heater showing a port-ion ofa hopper car, the

car heater being positioned beneath the hopper; and

Figure 3 is a side elevational view showing the car heater as it is pushed across a pair of railroad rails to position it beneath the hopper of a car.

In Figure 1 a ar heater Zilis illustrated consisting of a trough 22 carried by 'end' plates at and 25 located one at each end. pair of handles 26 and 21 are provided at opposite ends of he h The n p tes 2 a d: 25a spaced apart a. distance such that they fit between a pair of standard railroad rails B, and the heater is supported between the rails by the downturned ends 28 and; 29' of handles 25' and 21' as will be described. The Wheel W of a hop per car is indicated diagrammatically in Figure 1 and a portion of a hopper H, also. appears- The standard distance rtvve nv the innenrunnine edg s of a Oi rails isfcur fee eiehtand nehalf inches and a cordingly the dis a ce. between theouter. suriaces of end plates 2(1- and 25; will ordinarily be an, amount slightly less than four feet eight and oneeha lf inches.

The endplate. 25 is extended inwardly and upwardly (see liigure 3) from its, lowest portion toward the central. bottom portion. of trough. 22 to form a supporting ramp. 36.. Corresponding-1y end plate 25 is turned inwardly andfupwardly to form a supporting ramp 3i. Handle 26, which projects beyond one end of the. heater, is turned downwardly (see Figure 1) and forms a handle ramp 32 which is fastened to end plate 24 near the bottom of the support. correspondingly handle 21 is turned downwardly and extended back to support 25 to form a handle ramp 33.

The trough may be drawn from a single piece of sheet steel or the bottom ends stamped from one piece and the sides from another and the seams welded. The handles are formed from bar or tube stock and welded together and to the 3 trough. Thus there is no part of the device whic could be injured by overheating.

With the described arrangement of ramps located along the bottom of heater 20 it is possible for one man to push the heater toward and over the farther rail. Referring now to Figure 3, the leading handle ramp 33 smoothly lifts the advancing end of the heater until the portion '2-8 rests on the rail. The other end is held up by the operator until the end 25 strikes the rail R, and is then lowered until the portion 29 rests on the other rail.

After the heater has been properly positioned it can be supplied with a small amount of oil which is lighted in any conventional manner as, for example, with a burning piece of rag. Furthermore the construction of the handles is such that one man can remove the heater from beneath a car hopper. For this purpose the ends 24 and 25 are curved as shown so that they readily slide up over the rail.

In practice it has been found that a thawing trough constructed in accordance with my invention can heat a loaded car sufiiciently to cause substantially'all of the ice in the car to melt and drain from the car through the hopper, leaving a relatively dry load. The coal may advantageously be warmed and dried considerably more than is necessary simply to release it from the car because dry coal will not freeze in a storage bin. Thus, by heating the loaded cars it is possible to condition the coal so that it will thereafter discharge readily without further thawing from a storage bin or silo.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that a device made in accordance with the present invention is well adapted to attain the ends and objects hereinbefore set forth, and to be economically manufactured. Heaters embodying the invention are suited to common production methods and are susceptible to a wide latitude of variations, as may be desirable in adapting the invention to different applications.

As various embodiments may be made of the above invention and as changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. Thawing apparatus for railway cars and the like comprising a trough for fuel, means for supporting said apparatus in spaced relation above the roadbed, stop means substantially at one end of said trough adapted to bear against the inner side of a rail, and means defining a surface sloping upwardly and outwardly from said stop means and outwardly of the end of the trough, said surface acting to cam the end of the apparatus upwardly as it is pushed against a rail.

2. Thawing apparatus for railway cars and the like comprising a trough for. fuel, supports for holding said apparatus in spaced relation above the roadbed, stops at opposite ends of said trough each adapted to bear against the inner side of a rail, and means defining a surface sloping upwardly and outwardly from each stop and outwardly of the end of the trough, said surfaces being adapted to cam one end of the apparatus upwardly s i s pushed from the other end under a railway car.

3. Thawing apparatus for railway cars and the like comprising a trough for fuel, stops at opposite ends of said trough each adapted to bear against the inner side of a rail, a handle ramp extending outwardly from each end of said trough, each handle ramp including a supporting surface adapted to rest on the railhead to support the apparatus in spaced relation above the roadbed, and a surface sloping upwardly and outwardly from said supporting surface, said sloping surface acting to cam one end of the apparatus upwardly as it is pushed from the other end and said supporting surfaces serving to support the apparatus on the rails.

4. Thawing apparatus for railway cars and the like comprising a trough for fuel, means for supporting said apparatus in spaced relation above the roadbed, a stop portion at each end of the trough adapted to bear against the inner side of a rail, a ramp portion sloping upwardly from the bottom. of each stop portion toward the center of the trough, and means defining a surface sloping upwardly and outwardly from each stop portion and outwardly of the end of the trough, said surfaces being adapted to cam one end of the heater upwardly as it is pushed from the other end under a railway car.

5. Thawing apparatus for railway cars and the like comprising a trough for fuel, means for supporting said apparatus in spaced relation above the roadbed, a stop portion at each end of the trough adapted to bear against the inner side of a rail, a ramp portion sloping upwardly from the bottom.of each stop portion toward the center of the trough, and handles at each end of said trough, each of said handles including the trough supporting means and means defining a surface sloping upwardly and outwardly from each stop portion and outwardly of the end of the trough, said surfaces being adapted to cam one end of the heater upwardly as it is pushed from'the other end under a railway car.

ECMIL FRANCK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Nielsen Feb. 28, 1933 

